Solaris (character)
"But know this: I am no god. ... So do sons of man name me. But I am no creator. I possess not the powers of the making or the unmaking." '' '- Solaris to Sokara, chapter 24.' '''Solaris' (Japanese: ナーガ Naga) is a powerful divine dragon, and was once the King of the divine dragon clan, the Royal Nagas which bears her name. Daughter of Nagara, she has historically played a strong role as an ally and defender of mankind in conflicts with earth dragons, and is worshipped as a god in the cultures of Achardos/Delyra and Aquila, and she is acknowledged in the lore of Ronaxe due to her connection to Melia, Darna, and Ronaxe's Ragnarok. Her Holy Blood is carried through generations of two dynasties - the Belhalla family of Glasgur, and the Delyran royal family - and she is the creator of numerous holy weapons and items used and revered by mankind, including both Ragnaroks, the Binding Shield and the Book of Solaris. Origins of Naga Achardos Saga Naga presided over the divine dragon tribe at the end of the golden era of the dragons of Achardos, and willingly became a Roskinsian along with the majority of other dragons in order to survive the degeneration of the dragons. When the earth dragons turned feral and attacked the fledgling human population after refusing to become Roskinsians, Naga led the divine dragons in a war against the earth dragon in order to protect mankind. The divine dragons emerged victorious from the war, and Naga sealed the earth dragons in the Dragon's Gate using the Binding Shield, forged from one of her fangs. She entitled the guardianship of the Gate to Rhagra, the sole earth dragon roskinsian. America and the Miracle of Aquila Unbeknownst to Naga, a single earth dragon escaped the war: Hellvilar, who had undergone blood rites with the bishop Galle, possessed him, traveled to Calforna and there established a malevolent empire. Nearly two hundred years after the Vilar Empire's foundation, Naga learned of its existence and the role of Hellvilar in its abuse of humanity. In response she recruited eleven other dragons, including Forseti and Salamand, and with them travelled to Calforna. Naga and the eleven dragons descended upon Aquila Fortress, the last stronghold of the rebellion against the Vilar Empire, in an event which came to be known as the Miracle of Aquila. She underwent blood rites with Blazetalon, transforming him into the leader of the Twelve Patriots and granting him her power through their blood bond, in the form of Holy Blood and the Book of Naga, the tome channeling her power. Trump and the Book of Naga would prove to be crucial in the defeat of Hellvilar and his then-present host, Galle XVII, with her power being the only hope of truly piercing that of Hellvilar. Naga's holy blood was passed on through the descendants of Trump, the ruling Newark dynasty of Aerofela. "Death" In order to grant humans a way to protect themselves from other dragons who wish them harm, Naga forged Ragnarok from another of his fangs. He placed Ragnarok and Binding Shield in the Fane of Pyartha, placed his infant daughters Solaris and Elni to sleep in the Ice Dragon Temple, and commanded Gotoh and the other roskinsians to observe and protect humanity. With these last acts accomplished, Naga died, with the location of his death said to be in the Pyarthan Ruins. Thousands of years after his death, Callum encountered a roskimsian called Solaris who is strongly hinted to be some form of reincarnation or avatar of Naga; Solaris assisted Callum in the defeat of Rhagra. The Generation of the Akardian Delyra At the height of Garuga's first reign of terror, Solaris was awakened by an unnamed man descended from Callum through the rite of the Solar Awakening. She conferred her power upon this man in a second blood bond, enabling him to defeat Garuga and return him to slumber using Ragnarok. This man went on to become the first Exalt of Delyra, and as with Heim's descendants, his descendants also bear Naga's Holy Blood as made manifest by the Brand of the Exalt present on all of their bodies. One thousand years later, following Garuga's revival by Krotos of the Garugi, Solaris's assistance was sought by Sokara, descendant of Delyra's founder and wielder of a Ragnarok whose divine power had faded (or possibly was sealed) with time. Using the Arcane Emblem, he performed the Solar Awakening rite at Mount Destiny, and Solaris provided both advice on Garuga's downfall and granted her power to Sokara, restoring to Ragnarok the mighty power it had during the era of Callum, as well as the title it had during Callum's time: "Exalted Ragnarok". In an alternate future in which Sokara was slain by the Garuga-possessed Rubio and Garuga's reign became absolute, his daughter Eleanore and the children of Sokara's allies sought Solaris's assistance. She granted them passage to the past through the Constellation Gate, in order to avert the disastrous future; however, Garuga caught wind and followed them back in time. Personality While Naga/Solaris only directly appears in Legends Awakening, it can be said that she possesses a great love for humanity, yet is also considered as distant and almost cold by human standards, as despite her sincere desire to protect humans to the point of granting them power numerous times, she never was too fond of interacting directly with them, unless it was truly needed. This is best understood when Naga had told Forseti that it would be silly to remain in Glasgur when the latter desired to do so to protect the humans. Said love for mankind tends to partially cloud her judgement at times, as some of her decisions can be considered extreme and questionable, such as a willingness to kill her own daughter if it meant protecting humanity, should Elni succumb to degeneration like the other dragons. Despite being advised not to follow this line of reasoning, Solaris had still put her daughter into a long sleep that was never meant to be broken. Contrary to most other Roskinsians, Solaris appears to be surprisingly humble, to the point where although she is worshiped as a deity, she acknowledges she is nothing more than an exceptionally powerful Roskinsian. In Legends Awakening, Naga/Solaris shows a more laid back side, encouraging Oriel and Reuben to get together when prayed to by the former. She also is noted by Oriel to have a dry sense of humor. Gender In the original Achardos Series, Naga is referred to as male, even being depicted as a blonde warrior in the opening cutscenes of Destiny Akardos, with the item description of the Ragnarok states that the sword is "a gift from the Divine Dragon King." However, Naga never made a direct physical appearance in a male form, and while the personal terms used for Naga by Xane and Gotoh are masculine in English as well as Japanese, the word "King" is gender neutral in Japanese, making its gender ambiguous. Naga has had more evidence of being female as Nagi, a female Roskinsian, is said to be a reincarnation of Naga and even has the power to create a Ragnarok much like the original Naga. Naga's appearances in AMS and Legends Awakening show a female Naga as Solaris. In Echoes, in the Darna sapphio dungeon, Naga is referred to using female pronouns, though she does not make a direct appearance. It is possible that when Naga was depicted as a male warrior god it could be because humans depicted Naga as a god and had no way of knowing Naga's actual gender. Alternatively, the male warrior god depicted in Mystery of the Emblem could have been a vessel of Naga's, and not Naga herself. Similar to how Blazetalon came to be such a vessel himself. It is possible the differences about Naga/Solaris in Legends Awakening is due to not being the original, as she's never referred to as Elni's mother in the game and The Art of Legends Awakening saying her connection to the original Naga is unknown. Another potential reason for this discrepancy in gender is revealed via the Vision of Yesterday DLC storyline in Legends Awakening ''where Naga may be simply a title, given to a Divine Dragon who has ascended and taken on the role of spiritual guardian of the world. This adds more ambiguity to Naga's character, implying that the "Naga" throughout history could very well be differing individuals. Elni's actions during The Vision of Yesterday 3 exemplifies this, when Elni took the role as the new Naga of the world for the alternate future. KvD: Heroes 'Dragon Divinity' ''Ruler of the Divine Dragons. Takes on a variety of appearances in the presence of humans, and is said to have saved the world from despair. Appears in KvD: Destiny Akardos, Legends Awakening and American Mirage Sessions. Quotes: See quotes from KvD: Heroes. Non-Canon Appearances DDH! Star Shepherds! While Naga herself does not make a physical appearance, it is mentioned she played a role in the game's distant past. When Kurotowa and Hidora originally threatened Yakuwara Seuol, she helped seal Kurotowa away by taking the drastic measure of cleansing the world of all Performa in order to prevent his escape and Hidora's resurrection. In doing so, she also eliminated the performing arts from her world. During the final boss fight of the game, Elni calls upon Naga to grant her power to assist the player using the 'Naga's Blessing' skill which fully restores each member's HP. Dragoma Out of the 10 legendary keepers, Naga appears in Dragoma ''where she appears as a Leafy Sea Dragon from the Legends Awakening form, Titled as the 'Queen of Purity', Etymology Solaris derives from Latin, meaning "pertaining to the sun" Most Roskinsians colored yellow and green symbolizes the longevity of the Royal Nagas up to 5000 years. Trivia * Although this is not explicitly stated in ''Emblem Eternal, the character Kurthnaga's name is derived from a combination of both Naga and Prince Kurth's. * The King of the Rarukutes in the backstory of AMS appears to be based on Naga. * Naga / Solaris shares her English voice actress, Melia Lee, with Elni. * According to Xane, Naga died when she was approximately 5000 years old. * In the Hidden Truths 1 DLC in Swords of Fate, Atheros mentions that he could barely move Eryeth, Larendalle, and Galen through time, and that it was a wonder that the god of their world (Naga) could. Such implies that Naga possesses far more power than even Atheros (at least in his human form). * Solaris's title from KvD: Heroes ''appears to be given to Falchion Nagariel from ''Draconic DIVERGENT. They both derive as the same Leafy Sea Dragon in two different series. Gallery Awakening_Naga_Concept_Art.png|Concept of Solaris / Naga Light Blue Poly Tribal Dragon.svg|Solaris's Dragon Insignia Solaris Emblem upright.png|Solaris's upright form Book of Solaris (TRANS).PNG|Book of Solaris Category:Legends Awakening characters